A new wave of militias are emerging throughout the United States. They are increasingly organized, well-armed and steadily recruiting members into a club long lionized as a fringe movement welcoming the collapse of society. Although, in reality, that is not the flag many of today’s militias are flying the highest, if at all. The gut of their cause is often relevance as opposed to reclusiveness.

For multiple years I followed the United Sentinel Militia, Utah's largest constitutional militia, as it weathers through an identity crisis less of their own design than of the society they see themselves preparing to defend. And in that time I’ve discovered a nuanced group more compelling than the caricatures that make its way onto TV and into print.

“Land of the Free” challenges the perceived motivations of a militia making few illusions about what they represent; an unapologetic view that may indeed be more in line with the pivot politics is taking in our country.

Visually, it’s a dynamic story about more than a fringe society drunk on the 2nd amendment. This is a story about our neighbors. And it’s one worth sharing with those who think militias are content to continue living in the shadows.

"There’s a lot of militia groups, we call them bug out groups. They're always prepared for this whole "crap hits the fan" situation. Their whole plan is that they're gonna run out to the desert and hide. And that’s not us. We want to help people cause I value my neighbor down the street and I hope they value me too so I’d want to be there to help them,"

-Torrey Weber, former commander of the USM

"Like a lot of people I want to have a plan. A want to have a group of people I can rely on not only for protection but also to protect. If something were to happen, civil unrest or a natural disaster and our government was not able to protect us, I don’t want to be one of those helpless people that’s just gonna fall by the wayside to irrelevance or insignificance. I want to actually do something in my community to show that I’m willing to do what it takes. I’m a patriot. I’m willing to bleed on that flag so those strips stay red."

- James Wood, USM member

"You can't always depend on a man to save you.... I've got my three kids and I know dang right well that whether Banner was home or not I could ensure my kids were safe. Being able to know that I am capable of protecting the kids if need be. I am capable of protecting myself if I need to. You know that alone is so much peace of mind it's unreal." - Autum Wentz, USM member

"You don’t start preparing for the flood after the water is already there. If you see the rain storm coming you start building sandbags. I’m not saying it’s gonna happen tomorrow, or five years from now or ten years from now or never, hopefully. But if we have prepared citizens and it does happen, it’s gonna be a lot easier on everybody if people know how to live off the land a little and can food and defend themselves,"

-Torrey Weber, former commander of the USM.

"We’re normal. I do the same things as you. On my Facebook I still post pictures of my cats and dinner and everything else. It’s not like all I’m focused on is this crazy training. It’s a normal life; we just have another aspect to it."

-Lindsay Wood, USM militia member and mother of two

"I guess I had the same stereotype that a lot of other people do. You know think of a bunch of crazy men sitting around coming up with conspiracy theories. It's just... militias were something that was really scary to me. Then we found the United Sentinel Militia and my opinion has changed like no other. I realized that you know, they're just as normal as everybody else."

- Autumn Wentz, USM member

"There is a fear there that we all kind of share but at the end of the day we choose not to live in fear. I think that’s the really important thing and one of the reasons why we’re all so close." -James Wood, USM member